Substance control - Procedure

Substance control

Monitoring and controlling substances in our products

All our products are carefully reviewed from the environmental perspective with the aims of substance control, energy efficiency and take-back and recycling of the discarded product. We have introduced several systems and processes to control the content of the components we buy from our suppliers. All part and material suppliers shall be certified as “Green Partners” before mass production of components delivered to Sony Mobile. In this way, we are able to actively work together with our suppliers to continuously phase out the substances we consider to be critical in our products. The most important system is our material declaration database linked to our product life cycle management tool where all procured components and each product’s Bill Of Materials (BOM) are registered. Full material declarations, i.e., full disclosure of all substances in a component, are obtained from our suppliers in an industry standard template (IPC1752). These material declarations are uploaded into our database and automatic calculation of the substances present in the component is performed by our system.

The aggregation of all substances in a mobile phone can be arrived at by knowing the BOM of a product. From this, the total compliance can be obtained as well as detailed information about what substances are present in the product. In addition to collecting material declarations, we also perform chemical analyses of the components of each product. This is done to secure that the information provided by our suppliers is correct and reliable. This allows us to ensure that all our products are compliant with our strict restrictions on materials and substances.

To provide full disclosure of the material content of all components of our products, we have introduced a Material Compliance Central. This database system generates the list of substances used in our products and enables us to ensure compliance with legal requirements as well as our commitments to phase out undesirable substances. Our suppliers are requested to submit full material contents for each component on the IPC 1752 form, an industry-standard template.

Environmental design

During the development phase, all Sony Xperia™ mobile phones, tablets and accessories go through a thorough environmental screening. The materials in our products are analysed by third-party laboratories to detect the presence of RoHS substances and substances that we have banned and restricted before they are released for production.

Compilation of the material declaration and screening by the external laboratories are driven by Environmental Coordinators based in each Sony Mobile development unit around the world. Our Environmental Coordinators build good environmental practice into the design of our products from the start, and ensure that finished products meet our stringent environmental requirements.

Environmental declaration

Through our Environmental Declarations, we invite any interested parties to obtain factual information from us. The Environmental Declarations can be downloaded on the web if you visit product support pages, choose your product and click on “Download product information – Sustainability”. The Environmental Declarations give the end user information on the most relevant environmental aspects of each model such as material and metal content, energy consumption, batteries, packaging and recycling.

Sony Green Partner Program

From April 2003, Sony Corporation procures parts and materials for its products solely from suppliers that have qualified as Green Partners. This qualification is one requirement for suppliers wishing to both start and continue doing business with Sony. Sony Mobile became a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2012 and has since then adopted the same rules.

Suppliers must renew their Green Partner approval every two years. This is done through the Green Partner Program, where the partners are audited by Sony Mobile certified auditors. If the partner makes any changes to production within the two-year audit cycle, then the partner is obliged follow the 4M (Man, Machine, Method, Material) change procedure and report to Sony Mobile.